Step 7: Moving from Ego to Divinity.

Principle: Humility

People need to hear revealed truth and be taught the meaning of the truth by a guru(s) so they can gain understanding and reach enlightenment. A compassionate wise teacher must remove the blindfolds of delusion that keep a person imprisoned in the forest of the body.

Text or Verse

Try to transcend the narrow notion that you have any existence apart from God. Also strive to continually focus your mind on the absolute oneness of Divinity and on your own real unity with that oneness. Since the Divine is flawless, you likewise will become an actual reflection of the divine - utterly perfect, without blemish or pain.

This perfection is within all beings as the Atman - yet only the wise perceive it. Those who are in this cosmic union with Me worship Me, and they therefore worship the Godhead in the hearts of all others. As they have shifted from the ego-self to God, they in essence live their lives in Me.

These wise, yogi-like souls know with certainty that they are not separate from but are one with the Godhead and therefore one with the universe and every being and thing in it. Although freed of unhappiness, they experience the joys and sorrows felt by others as happening to the whole. This awareness is the loftiest spiritual union.Essential Wisdom of
the Bhagavad Gita

Practice

The Hindu Guru is the physical embodiment of Divine Being, a spiritual master. There are four kinds of gurus:

Parents - who provide us with a body and acquaint us with life

Teachers - who educate us

Spiritual masters - who know the way, who explain the purpose of life and the way to self-realization

Cosmic Guru (Avatar) - to which the Spiritual Master leads us; which is divine incarnation and fully enlightened

If you seek a spiritual guide and are willing to follow his guidance with trust and love, you will find your way, and eventually become the guru (antaryamin), inner leader.

Resources

American Institute of Vedic Studies (go to Links menu to connect to the website)

Auyrvedic Institute (go to Links menu to connect to the website)

Hindu Universe (go to Links menu to connect to the website)

Hindu University of America (go to Links menu to connet to the website)